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Practice Area

Intellectual Property Protection

Overview

Maynard Cooper’s Intellectual Property Protection Practice Group operates with a focus on enhancing client value through the acquisition, protection and management of intellectual property resources. The firm’s Practice utilizes a multidisciplinary approach that combines extensive experience in business and litigation with a range of technical capabilities sufficient to meet the needs of a wide array of clients in various industries and fields of technology. Maynard Cooper regularly represents clients in matters relating to patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets and unfair competition. The firm has particular strength in counseling clients on the management of infringement risk and on the development of value added IP portfolios. The firm also has an active Domestic and International Licensing Practice.

The Group includes lawyers with significant experience on a national level. The attorneys overseeing the firm’s patent and trademark practices were all trained at leading intellectual property firms in markets such as Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. The attorneys engaged in licensing and transactional work likewise have substantial national and international experience. Our lawyers have experience representing a number of well known companies including Adtran Inc., Illinois Tool Works, Toray Industries, Delphi Automotive Systems, and General Motors Corporation. We also have extensive experience representing educational institutions in obtaining and licensing intellectual property rights. In addition to the Group’s substantial experience, our geographic location and use of technology provides the flexibility to satisfy our clients’ needs at substantial cost savings relative to comparable organizations based in larger markets. Thus, Maynard Cooper’s IP attorneys are able to provide services by highly experienced lawyers at rates typically charged by junior attorneys in major markets.

Areas of Client Service:

Patent Services

Maynard Cooper has a highly skilled group of patent attorneys with an average experience level of approximately 15 years each. The broad-based technical expertise of our attorneys covers a wide array of subject matters including electrical engineering, computer science, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, metallurgy, materials science, and life science technologies. Our attorneys routinely assist clients with the complex task of securing and maintaining domestic and international patent portfolios for the protection of their most important innovations. Our attorneys also assist clients in avoiding infringement risk by identifying non-infringing alternatives to existing patents held by others and/or by challenging such patents through available administrative procedures. In the event that our clients may become involved in litigation, our attorneys are experienced in conducting and/or managing such litigation at a significant cost advantage relative to attorneys of similar experience levels in other markets.

Trademark and Trade Dress Services

Unlike many general practice firms, Maynard Cooper uses only experienced intellectual property attorneys to handle trademark and trade dress matters. Our attorneys have significant experience handling initial trademark clearance searches for proposed marks as well as in dealing with the trademark examining authorities to secure federal, state and international trademark registrations. Our attorneys also have experience in opposition and cancellation proceedings directed to federal applications and registrations. Our intellectual property attorneys in conjunction with our litigation attorneys also have the experience to manage complex litigation involving trademark rights.

Copyright Services

The attorneys at Maynard Cooper have experience in securing both public and secret federal copyright registrations. Our attorneys also provide counseling and formal opinions to clients regarding possible infringement and legitimate rights to use. Our intellectual property attorneys in conjunction with our litigation attorneys also have the experience to manage litigation involving complex copyright matters should those needs arise.

Trade Secret Services

Maynard Cooper combines the technical skills of its intellectual property attorneys with the substantial experience of its Labor and Employment Practice Group to provide clients with an extraordinary ability to handle the complexities of trade secret matters. By teaming intellectual property attorneys with highly skilled employment attorneys, the firm has the core competency to deal with both the technical issues and the labor law issues found in most modern trade secret matters. This approach permits the firm to address trade secret matters at an early stage by crafting agreements with employees and implementing protective practices that will withstand scrutiny if later challenged. The agility of the firm’s employment Litigation Practice also permits the rapid and efficient use of the court system to minimize the impact of trade secret misappropriation once it is identified.

Licensing

A number of Maynard Cooper’s attorneys have significant experience in crafting and negotiating complex intellectual property and technology transfer licenses. In licensing transactions involving technology, our commercial licensing attorneys have the ability to work in conjunction with attorneys having an intimate understanding of the subject technology and the scope of protections surrounding that technology. This synergy ensures that the licensing transaction is effective in transferring the rights intended by the parties.